Imagine you’re Batman. At night, you prowl the streets looking for villains in a big, blacked-out machine named the Batmobile that’s faster than anything on the road — except for maybe a Tesla S, depending on whose zero-to-60-mph time you choose to believe. During the day you’re Bruce Wayne, so the Batmobile stays out of sight in the garage. But an elite superhero wouldn’t settle for commuting in a bland economy car, right? Nope, he’d go straight to the Mansory dealership and order a tuned Mercedes-AMG GLS 63.
The Mansory-branded add-ons give the GLS the sporty, wide-bodied look commonly associated with race cars. That’s saying a lot, because the biggest member of Mercedes’ growing SUV lineup is already 76 inches wide without anything tacked on the sides of it. The body kit also includes a new front bumper that incorporates a splitter, rocker extensions, and an air diffuser built into the rear bumper. If that’s not enough, or if you’re worried the six-foot-wide grille won’t channel enough cooling air into the engine bay, you can order a full carbon fiber hood with two NACA ducts.
For engineering geeks, the real treat is under the hood. The stock GLS 63 has a 5.5-liter turbocharged V8 engine that makes 577 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 561 pound-feet of torque at just 1,720 rpm. That’s not anywhere near enough for Mansory, so the German tuner’s team of engine builders has bumped the eight-cylinder’s output up to a Ferrari-like 840 horses and 848 pound-feet of twist. It’s channeled to all four wheels via an automatic transmission controlled by shift paddles.
At nearly 6,000 pounds, the GLS 63 seemingly bends the laws of physics. It performs the benchmark zero-to-60-mph sprint in about four seconds, meaning it can keep up with a Porsche 911 on a drag strip, and it goes on to a top speed of 183 mph. Fuel economy figures haven’t been released yet, likely because they’ll give members of the California Air Resources Board panic attacks for weeks on end.
Of course, the average Mansory customer likely cares as much about fuel economy as Toyota Prius c buyers are concerned about downforce. While pricing information for the Mansory-massaged GLS 63 hasn’t been released yet, keep in mind the standard car’s base price is approximately $125,000.
